Artem Dalakian handed mandatory defense days after WBA title win

Juan Arias 01/03/2018

The World Boxing Association (WBA) Championships Committee ordered the start of negotiations between the teams behind Ukrainian Artem Dalakian and Thai Shirichai Thaiyen to fight for the body’s Flyweight title, which currently belongs to the European boxer.

This resolution is issued based on article C-12 of the WBA rules, which is about “vacant title defense periods”. This rule indicates that a boxer who obtains a belt in a fight for a vacant title must make a defense within 120 days from the date the title was obtained.

Thaiyen, third boxer in the WBA ranking at 112 pounds, became the Dalakien’s mandatory contender through a resolution issued by the WBA Championships Committee, which is covered by article C-29 of the body’s rules, that indicates that a mandatory challenger in each weight division can be selected by the body or through an eliminatory bout.

In addition, it clarifies that the selection may be subject to conditions and that, generally, the highest rated boxer in the division is named.

For this reason, the WBA Championships Committee gave a period of 30 days, as of February 26th, to reach an agreement. If no agreement is reached, the fight will be called to a purse bid. Both parties were duly notified.